As I was answering a post on the site, it brought back some very great memories of life with Prog in it for me. Maybe yours was a special show or gathering where you heard a prog tune that lifted you in the air. Post them...

Here's mine...

Yellow sunshine & a bright blue sky on a Sunday afternoon in May. I was 21 years old. People hanging out at the park, sitting on the grass, playing frisbee, bare feet, laughter & smiles. My buddy Tommy playing his Ovation acoustic... Mood for A Day, The Clap, All Good People, Breathe, From The Beginning, Ripples, all there and joyous. Now if memory serves me, yes we were all enhanced that day, but nevertheless it lives so vivid in my mind!

In the beautiful beginning of spring, 1985, just when things are starting to warm up and become human again. I am 22 years old, and not that familiar with progressive rock. A friend lends me a copy of Triumvirat's Illusions On A Double Dimple. I had seen the "mouse in an egg-shell cover" in used record stores before, but had never actually heard the record. I'm in my living room, with my headphones on, and listening to it. The beauty of the music seemed to distill in me all the beauty of that '85 spring; I knew right when I heard it, that I had stumbled across "the real thing" when it comes to progressive rock. Mind-blowing technique coupled with beauty. And as that spring unfolded, I had to hear this record over and over. This opened the floodgates for collecting prog for me. An unforgettable experience.

Edited by presdoug - April 06 2014 at 12:25

Mahler's 7th Symphony-like the Soundtrack to a serious operation that is going really well.

I'll go with something more recent. Steven Wilson show last May in Boulder. A friend of mine flew in from Portland Oregon to see the show - we've become Wilson groupies, always catching a show somewhere in the US. We spent a couple of great Boulder days cycling, then a great afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall eating and drinking, and then off to the show.

The show was at the Boulder Theater, a smallish venue - I would guess 1,200 or so. We had seats in the fourth row, middle - absolutely fantastic. Met some great people at the show, including a fellow who flew in from Texas to catch the show and was the spitting image of Nick Beggs - go figure. The band was on fantastic form: Marco being the maniac that he is on drums, Guthrie putting on a guitar clinic, and Steven directing it all and drawing the audience into his music.

For me the event felt like turning the clock back 35 years - I was young, I was with great friends, I was again engaged in discovering and being emerged in fantastic music, and most importantly I was immersed in a communal setting that I hadn't felt in a long time. It was college, 1977 all over again. Great night...

One of my fondest memories was when my dad introduced me to King Crimson for the first time. I've been playing the guitar for 22 years and after a two or three years playing my dad came into the practice room one day and told me that I sounded like Robert Fripp. I said "Robert who?" My dad grabbed his LP of "Beat" and played "Neal and Jack and Me" for me. I was in complete astonishment and still am to this day. King Crimson, without me knowing it at the time, was my entry into the world of progressive rock. This moment has remained a revelation to me.

Hot sunny day, excellent Theakstons bar with Old Peculier. General bonhomie and goodwill to the world.

Bands: Openers - a band I'd never heard of - but were excellent - called Marillion (wonder what happened to them???)

2nd Huang Chung - they got bottled off after about 5 numbers, one of which they had to restart

3rd Lindisfarne (brilliant as always)

4th The Blues Band (Superb)

Headliners Jethro Tull (2 hours of brilliance from the days when Anderson could sing.)

The only thing that rivals it was the reception Andy Latimer and Camel got when they walked on stage at Harrogate for the first night of the Retirement Sucks tour last Oct. I've never seen so many grown men crying with joy.

Driving 10 hours from Cincinnati to Washington to see Univers Zero play for the first time at the French Embassy, made especially excellent by Miriodor being the support. I was giddy all day.

First time seeing King Crimson in NY in 2000 (?) had been a fan for years and years and always assumed I'd never get to see them. They tore up the place that night.

My first Nearfest in 2010 meeting so many people I'd only known online to that point, made a whole bunch of friends.

Going to RIO in 2011 in France, I was sitting having a beer & reading a book outside the venue on the Friday before the show and noticed that the Present & Univers Zero guys were at the next table. I didn't want to be an ass so left them alone and continued reading. After about 15 minutes Dave Kerman asked me who I was & if I wanted to come over. I made a lot of friends that weekend. The Univers Zero - Present - Aranis concert with 17 people on stage was monstrous. Also discovered Alaamailman Vasarat at that festival.

The second or third time that I listened to The Yes Album. "Starship Trooper" was on (the "Würm" part with Steve Howe's guitar and Tony Kaye's background chords, all in a climax) and I remember gasping for breath and sweating all over my body and I could only think: "What incredibly, incredibly good!" Maybe I never enjoyed music more that at that moment.

I remember having being very unhappily in love (she didn't love me ), and I was in a car and the one who drove had a tape of Camel's Moonmadness on it, and the beautiful music was so consoling at that moment in time.

I remember buying Genesis' Trick Of The Tail and it was like being into another world. It was still the age of lp and the beautiful artwork was on the sleeve, on the inner sleeve with all the lyrics written in calligraphy. Even the sleeve around the lp itself had the artwork. Really beautiful.

The first time I heard Tangerine Dream on a compilation cassette tape given to me by a friend in high school, and then heading over to the local record shop (within walking distance – those were the days!) and checking out a series of album covers that sported Monique Froese's whimsical if not arcane photographic manipulations.

I had enough money to buy only one album. Cassettes were out of stock, but I had an econo turntable made by a brand I'm embarrassed to reference (LOL). The album covers and track titles made the choice a difficult one, but I eventually went with the most "sci-fi" looking of the bunch (I'll leave that to speculation).

I took the record home and was not disappointed, and even delighted that one of the album's tracks had been on the compilation tape given to me. I was an instant fan.

I remember buying Genesis' Trick Of The Tail and it was like being into another world. It was still the age of lp and the beautiful artwork was on the sleeve, on the inner sleeve with all the lyrics written in calligraphy. Even the sleeve around the lp itself had the artwork. Really beautiful.

There was nothing quite like going to the record store, purchasing that album, scurrying back to your room, and devouring a beautifully designed gate-fold cover while listening to the album for the first time. I immediately think of DSOTM, Lamb, TAAB, CTTE, etc.

I remember buying Genesis' Trick Of The Tail and it was like being into another world. It was still the age of lp and the beautiful artwork was on the sleeve, on the inner sleeve with all the lyrics written in calligraphy. Even the sleeve around the lp itself had the artwork. Really beautiful.

There was nothing quite like going to the record store, purchasing that album, scurrying back to your room, and devouring a beautifully designed gate-fold cover while listening to the album for the first time. I immediately think of DSOTM, Lamb, TAAB, CTTE, etc.

Absolutely! That was one of the best things in the age of lp, and prog bands were very good at that.

A friend of mine noticed that I didn't buy all those Genesis, Yes etc. albums at the same time, but I gave each record its time, like a good wine.

Among the many great Prog memories the standouts are: the legendary Roosevelt Stadium Jersey City "Relayer" concert. With that music and those blue laser beams circling over head it was as close to a religious experience as I've ever encountered. I remember it as if yesterday, John Anderson was on stage alone with exotic wind instruments entertaining us as we entered the stadium describing what instrument this or that was and being very unassuming. This was well before everyone was seated and the concert officially began. The very next day in Central Park was the Gentle Giant "Free Hand" concert opened by the Starcastle "Lady of the Lake" concert on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. How could there be a more perfect Prog weekend? The other standouts were the Renaissance "Turn of the Cards" and "Scheherazade"concerts at the Capitol Theater in Passaic which was walking distance from my house. I Never missed a Renaissance concert and they seemed to love that venue, very intimate setting for the time. It was actually a somewhat converted movie theater holding about two thousand people max. I would do almost anything to be transported back to those days just for a short time to remind myself that I was actually blessed enough to experience them.

I'll go with something more recent. Steven Wilson show
last May in Boulder. A friend of mine flew in from Portland Oregon to
see the show - we've become Wilson groupies, always catching a show
somewhere in the US. We spent a couple of great Boulder days cycling,
then a great afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall eating and drinking, and
then off to the show.

The
show was at the Boulder Theater, a smallish venue - I would guess 1,200
or so. We had seats in the fourth row, middle - absolutely fantastic.
Met some great people at the show, including a fellow who flew in from
Texas to catch the show and was the spitting image of Nick Beggs - go figure. The band was on fantastic form: Marco being the maniac that he is on drums, Guthrie putting on a guitar clinic, and Steven directing it all and drawing the audience into his music.

I was at that show, absolutely spectacular. I saw Opeth about two weeks later at a different venue in Boulder, great show too.

As
for me, some of my best memories come from the later summer of 2011.
That summer, I had been getting more prog and outside of the general
classic rock arena, with friends introducing me to King Crimson and the
much more progressive side of Yes. Also, my birthday rolled around in
December, and I had another friend from New Jersey speaking of this man
named Steven Wilson, who I had no knowledge of. He linked me to the
then-new track Sectarian, and I was immediately hooked. I had him send
me a copy, and I think it is one of my favorite and most memorable gifts
I've ever gotten. A little earlier than that, I also discovered
Phideaux through another forum. That year was amazing.

Hot sunny day, excellent Theakstons bar with Old Peculier. General bonhomie and goodwill to the world.

Bands: Openers - a band I'd never heard of - but were excellent - called Marillion (wonder what happened to them???)

2nd Huang Chung - they got bottled off after about 5 numbers, one of which they had to restart

3rd Lindisfarne (brilliant as always)

4th The Blues Band (Superb)

Headliners Jethro Tull (2 hours of brilliance from the days when Anderson could sing.)

The only thing that rivals it was the reception Andy Latimer and Camel got when they walked on stage at Harrogate for the first night of the Retirement Sucks tour last Oct. I've never seen so many grown men crying with joy.

I was there too, as an 18 year old, with all my Marillion fan friends. It was a great day.

I guess it would be shaking Robert Fripp's hand after a "Crafty Guitarist" concert.

I didn't shake his hand, but he stood right next to me in the aisle and filed his fingernails before he went onstage ('79 I think) for his Frippertronic performance at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. I glanced up at him and inhaled some of his fingernail dust.

I did shake Fred Frith's hand though. I snuck backstage with some friends after a Skeleton Crew performance at the same venue ('82 I think).

1 - Summer of 1971, I had just turned 13 and I heard ELP's first album at a drop in center at a local high school. When the Three Fates started I was transfixed (for life).

2 - Seeing Moraz / Bruford perform Music for Piano and Drums in a 500 seat auditorium at a local college. Only about 50 people showed up (I assume it was poorly advertised) and I still have the recording from my newly purchased Toshiba stereo walkman recorder.

3 - Seeing ELP with the orchestra at Cobo Hall in Detroit (I rented a 400mm lens for my Nikon FM and shot four rolls of slides)

4 - Sweet talking my way into the sound check for ASIA in my hometown of London Ontario. Sat chatting with the soundman (I was doing sound for BUSKER at the time http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3576) when Carl walked into the auditorium. He came over and chatted with me. I told him about the Cobo Hall show and the great shots I had taken. I had brought along the ASIA LP sleeve to try and get some signatures. I got everyones! After our chat Carl went up to tune his drums. I was standing at the edge of the stage and he asked me what I thought about the tuning of his toms. I later realized he had been sitting in the very seat I had bought my ticket for, no guff. Next I spoke with Geoff Downes and mentioned I was mixing sound for a keyboard driven duo. He said "Oh you'll love this then" and hauled me up on stage and showed my his new Fairlight synth. Freakin' awesome day !

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